Hello! I'm Kbludoh and I've recently began playing pokemon in a more serious way xD. I used to play a lot during the 2nd gen, but as I was a 10yo kid who stayed mostly at home, I usually played by myself and never played competitively. I recently bought my 2ds and before I begin the grindfest of forming my team, I've begun exploring and catching pokes from all those gens I missed. I've been reading guides and tinkering my team for a week now and I believe I'm getting the hang of the game, though there are so many possibilities and different things and strategies that I'm still lost in forming a good and cohesive team and strategy.
After tinkering my team, I stumbled upon a wall that I don't really know how to overcome. This is my overview after 4 hours of spamming this team in the ~1100 OU ladder in smogon with an approximate ~55% winrate. :P
Team: Espeon/Clawitzer/Tyranitar/Gengar/Gliscor/Togekiss
Intent: I've tried to form my team based around small sinergies and being an all-around team. My idea is to not have a glaring defense hole and rely on outplaying the opponent on small accumulated victories instead of going for a big, flashy combo (small risk/small-to-medium reward).
Strenghts: It can handle Attack and some Special-Attack sweepers well. It doesn't care against hazzards.
Weaknesses: The team is very vulnerable against fighting sweepers and ice attacks. Greninja singlehandedly counters the entire team. Steel bulky pokes are really tough to handle.
Espeon
Ability: Magic Bounce
Item: Light Clay
EVs: 252Spe/252Def/4SpD
Nature: Timid (+Spe/-Atk)
Batton Pass
Reflect
Calm Mind
Psychic
Espeon is primary used to create an advantageous position in the arms race against Attack users who stack Dragon Rages or Sword Dances by creating a 8 turn Reflect with Light Clay and stacking Calm Mind for Gengar, Togekiss or Clawitzer with Batton Pass. Psychic is a reliable STAB move where Espeon can attack and benefit from his own buffs when the time is needed. He's also used as an opener against hazzard openers or status-applying opponents with Magic Bounce .Overall, he's one of the pokes I'm most satisfied with in my team.
Clawitzer
Ability: Mega Launcher
Item: Choice Specs
EVs: 164HP/252SpA/92Spe
Modest (+SpA/-Atk)
Dark Pulse
Aura Sphere
Ice Beam
Water Pulse
I like to throw him against other Special Attackers, as his built in SpD is usually enough to tank at least 2 hits from most Special Attackers. His attacking kit is great all around, covering a lot of ground with it's kit potent and diverse attack types, but I feel he lacks a bit of a punch without either Choice Specs or Life Orb. I particularly don't like Life Orb as his low speed already obligues him to be hit in order to hit back, but Choice Specs locks him from being able to stay for a prolonged period of time in battle due to the opponent choosing a strong type against them, and he rarely has the opportunity to come into battle twice due to his low speed. I know there are better alternatives than him (Greninja is the 1st one that comes to mind), but I really like this cannon-armed shrimp and I'd like to make him work somehow xD. I was also thinking about Quick Claw, but I'm still skeptical about using it.
Ability: Tyranitar
Item: Sandstream
EVs: Assault Vest
+252HP/+252Def/+4Atk
Nature: Impish (+Def/-SpA)
Pursuit
Crunch
Fire Blast
Rock Slide
My go-to poke against Ghost-types. Pursuit serves to trap them (either if they stay or try to swap, Pursuit will have a guaranteed damage) and he has a lot of staying power against Special Attackers due to Rock Type special defense boost and Assault Vest. He also has a reliable damage source with STAB Rock Slide and Crunch, though he deffinitely won't neutral enemies. I think I made him kinda too niche to fight against Ghost-Types who usually destroyed my team and I suffer trying to handle bulky Steel Types. I've tried Fire Blast against Steel-type enemies, but I haven't found a situation where it has paid off. I was thinking about running Earthquake, but it being non-STAB and his low attack due to not prioritizing it in EVs or nature doesn't make it pack a lot of punch.
Gengar
Ability: Levitate
Item: Black Sludge
EVs: +4HP/+252SpA/+252Spe
Nature: Modest (+SpA/-Atk)
Thunderbolt
Black Sludge
Phantom Force
Giga Drain
Mega-Gengar is banned, so Black Sludge was my go-to item. I'm gonna be honest and say that I suffered so much against Gengars that I tried to run him in my team, having so mild success. He's powerful and has a decent cover, but I hardly find a great opportunity to really shine. He either OHKO or is OHKO, though I believe I'm not using him correctly. I'm strongly considering swapping him with something else, but I'm still considering my options
Gliscor
Ability: Poison Heal
Item: Toxic Orb
EVs: +252HP/+252Def/+4Spe
Nature: Impish (+Def/-SpA)
I love using Gliscor against beefy and Electric pokes due to his great stalling strategy and great type resistance. He's great against dragon-type pokemons due to his high survivality. Though he's great when he works, he's extremely vulnerable against special attackers. Ice-attacks OHKO him, making him a kind of hit-or-miss poke. I'm inclined to keep him on the team mostly because he has paid off several times and being a hard to use poke, but as I improve on my decision-making, I believe his power will shine even more.
Toxic
Substitute
Protect
Earthquake
Description
Togekiss
Ability: Serene Grace
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 4HP/252SpA/252Spe
Nature: Modest (+SpA/-Atk)
Air Slash
Dazzling Gleam
Nasty Plot
Thunderwave
Togekiss is a really solid, packing a lot of punch against grass and dragon-types. He has a very strong sinergy with Espeon, having a lot of tankiness due to his innate SpD, decent speed and a ParaFlinch combo with Thunderwave/Air Slash combo. He can also become a very scary sweeper if Baton Passed or if the opportunity to Nasty Plot arrives and can become quite tanky with Reflection. Couple this Leftovers, he will kill everything on his path.
After tinkering my team, I stumbled upon a wall that I don't really know how to overcome. This is my overview after 4 hours of spamming this team in the ~1100 OU ladder in smogon with an approximate ~55% winrate. :P
Team: Espeon/Clawitzer/Tyranitar/Gengar/Gliscor/Togekiss
Intent: I've tried to form my team based around small sinergies and being an all-around team. My idea is to not have a glaring defense hole and rely on outplaying the opponent on small accumulated victories instead of going for a big, flashy combo (small risk/small-to-medium reward).
Strenghts: It can handle Attack and some Special-Attack sweepers well. It doesn't care against hazzards.
Weaknesses: The team is very vulnerable against fighting sweepers and ice attacks. Greninja singlehandedly counters the entire team. Steel bulky pokes are really tough to handle.
Espeon
Ability: Magic Bounce
Item: Light Clay
EVs: 252Spe/252Def/4SpD
Nature: Timid (+Spe/-Atk)
Batton Pass
Reflect
Calm Mind
Psychic
Espeon is primary used to create an advantageous position in the arms race against Attack users who stack Dragon Rages or Sword Dances by creating a 8 turn Reflect with Light Clay and stacking Calm Mind for Gengar, Togekiss or Clawitzer with Batton Pass. Psychic is a reliable STAB move where Espeon can attack and benefit from his own buffs when the time is needed. He's also used as an opener against hazzard openers or status-applying opponents with Magic Bounce .Overall, he's one of the pokes I'm most satisfied with in my team.
Clawitzer
Ability: Mega Launcher
Item: Choice Specs
EVs: 164HP/252SpA/92Spe
Modest (+SpA/-Atk)
Dark Pulse
Aura Sphere
Ice Beam
Water Pulse
I like to throw him against other Special Attackers, as his built in SpD is usually enough to tank at least 2 hits from most Special Attackers. His attacking kit is great all around, covering a lot of ground with it's kit potent and diverse attack types, but I feel he lacks a bit of a punch without either Choice Specs or Life Orb. I particularly don't like Life Orb as his low speed already obligues him to be hit in order to hit back, but Choice Specs locks him from being able to stay for a prolonged period of time in battle due to the opponent choosing a strong type against them, and he rarely has the opportunity to come into battle twice due to his low speed. I know there are better alternatives than him (Greninja is the 1st one that comes to mind), but I really like this cannon-armed shrimp and I'd like to make him work somehow xD. I was also thinking about Quick Claw, but I'm still skeptical about using it.
Ability: Tyranitar
Item: Sandstream
EVs: Assault Vest
+252HP/+252Def/+4Atk
Nature: Impish (+Def/-SpA)
Pursuit
Crunch
Fire Blast
Rock Slide
My go-to poke against Ghost-types. Pursuit serves to trap them (either if they stay or try to swap, Pursuit will have a guaranteed damage) and he has a lot of staying power against Special Attackers due to Rock Type special defense boost and Assault Vest. He also has a reliable damage source with STAB Rock Slide and Crunch, though he deffinitely won't neutral enemies. I think I made him kinda too niche to fight against Ghost-Types who usually destroyed my team and I suffer trying to handle bulky Steel Types. I've tried Fire Blast against Steel-type enemies, but I haven't found a situation where it has paid off. I was thinking about running Earthquake, but it being non-STAB and his low attack due to not prioritizing it in EVs or nature doesn't make it pack a lot of punch.
Gengar
Ability: Levitate
Item: Black Sludge
EVs: +4HP/+252SpA/+252Spe
Nature: Modest (+SpA/-Atk)
Thunderbolt
Black Sludge
Phantom Force
Giga Drain
Mega-Gengar is banned, so Black Sludge was my go-to item. I'm gonna be honest and say that I suffered so much against Gengars that I tried to run him in my team, having so mild success. He's powerful and has a decent cover, but I hardly find a great opportunity to really shine. He either OHKO or is OHKO, though I believe I'm not using him correctly. I'm strongly considering swapping him with something else, but I'm still considering my options
Gliscor
Ability: Poison Heal
Item: Toxic Orb
EVs: +252HP/+252Def/+4Spe
Nature: Impish (+Def/-SpA)
I love using Gliscor against beefy and Electric pokes due to his great stalling strategy and great type resistance. He's great against dragon-type pokemons due to his high survivality. Though he's great when he works, he's extremely vulnerable against special attackers. Ice-attacks OHKO him, making him a kind of hit-or-miss poke. I'm inclined to keep him on the team mostly because he has paid off several times and being a hard to use poke, but as I improve on my decision-making, I believe his power will shine even more.
Toxic
Substitute
Protect
Earthquake
Description
Togekiss
Ability: Serene Grace
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 4HP/252SpA/252Spe
Nature: Modest (+SpA/-Atk)
Air Slash
Dazzling Gleam
Nasty Plot
Thunderwave
Togekiss is a really solid, packing a lot of punch against grass and dragon-types. He has a very strong sinergy with Espeon, having a lot of tankiness due to his innate SpD, decent speed and a ParaFlinch combo with Thunderwave/Air Slash combo. He can also become a very scary sweeper if Baton Passed or if the opportunity to Nasty Plot arrives and can become quite tanky with Reflection. Couple this Leftovers, he will kill everything on his path.